Last Modified: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 10:38 p.m.

Mike Ayers

Wofford football coach Mike Ayers addresses his team during a scrimmage over the weekend.

ALEX HICKS JR./alex.hicks@shj.com

Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are expected to announce Wednesday that they are leaving the Southern Conference for the Sun Belt. They will be ineligible for the SoCon title or Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in 2013 and won't qualify for the Football Bowl Subdivision until 2015.

“It's sure going to be a different conference,” Wofford head coach Mike Ayers said. “We've had some really great games against both of those schools. It's been a great deal of fun. We've shared in some great memories and some championships.”

In fact, no other team besides those three has won outright or shared in the Southern Conference championship since 2004. Only Furman, which tied with Appalachian State at the top nine years ago and with Georgia Southern 12 years ago, has joined the big three with a trophy since Marshall left the league, also for the FBS, after its title in 1996.

Wofford won its fourth championship in 2012, sharing with Georgia Southern. GSU has won or shared in nine titles since 1992 with back-to-back national championships in 1999 and 2000. Appalachian State has won or shared in six titles during the past eight seasons, winning three straight national championships from 2005-07.

“I wonder if it's something that, once they get into to, may have them wondering if they would be better off back in the Southern Conference,” Ayers said. “I'm sure they researched it very well. There must be a reason they are heading in that direction. I wish them luck. We'll see how it all pans out.”

The Sun Belt includes Arkansas State, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy and Western Kentucky. In basketball, the league also will have Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas-Arlington.

Meanwhile, the Southern Conference, already losing the College of Charleston, a non-football playing school, will have to scramble to replace a couple of football powerhouses.

“Folks in the Southern Conference will do a great job as far as trying to replace those schools,” Ayers said. “I'm sure those new schools will be worthy of the conference and will bring something to the table that maybe App and Georgia Southern couldn't bring.”

While Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are more known for football, their basketball teams also are well-respected. ASU finished second in the North Division behind Elon this past season. GSU finished tied with Wofford in the South Division and then eliminated the Terriers in the first round of the tournament.

“I admire the people at App State and Georgia Southern greatly. I hate that they are leaving our league,” said Wofford head basketball coach Mike Young, whose team won SoCon tournament championships and went to the NCAAs in 2009-10 and 2010-11. “One of the greatest moments of my professional career — and I will say this 20 years from now — was our game against App State in 2010 to win the championship.”

Combined with the College of Charleston's departure for the Colonial Athletic Association after this school year, the landscape in basketball will be altered greatly for the Southern Conference as well.

“Football will be different. But the Southern Conference will be fine,” Young said. “I know that (Southern Conference commissioner) John Iamarino and our athletic directors and CEOs will go to great depths to make sure our league continues to be ultra-competitive and strong across the board.”

Georgia Southern has been the dominant baseball team in the conference so far with an 8-1 league record, including a three-game sweep of Wofford. The College of Charleston, coached by former Spartanburg Methodist assistant Monte Lee, has always been strong in that sport. Appalachian State also is on target to finish in the top half of the conference.

“You know that change is inevitable. You just hope they get replaced by good schools and I believe that will happen,” Wofford baseball coach Todd Interdonato said. “I think there are a lot of schools that want to be a part of this league and would be excited about being a SoCon member. I don't think we're going to have any issues with finding good schools because our league is so attractive.”

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